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Tuesday

Omar Rayyan is a published illustrator of children's books and young adult books. Some of the published credits of Omar Rayyan include Mistmantle Chronicles Book Three, The: Heir of Mistmantle, The (Mistmantle Chronicles), Waggit's Tale.
He was a concept illustrator for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (2005).

Omar graduated with a BFA in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has been illustrating professionally for over 15 years, and his clients include Holiday House, Cricket Magazine Group, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, and Hyperion/Disney. He works primarily in watercolor, with a special affinity for animals. His artistic influences are wide-ranging and ever-changing, from Arthur Rackham to John Singer Sargent and Persian miniatures. He currently resides on the island of Martha's Vineyard and shares his life with his wife, Sheila, and their menagerie: a cat, a budgie, an assortment of fish, and a horse named Spot.

Monday

Carl Spitzweg (1808 – 1885) was a German romanticist painter, illustrator and poet. He is considered to be an important representatives of the Biedermeier style.
Biedermeier refers to work in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts in the period between 1815 and 1848, and contrasts with the Romantic era which preceded it. The style corresponds to the Regency style in England, Federal style in the United States and to the French Empire style.
His father, a wealthy merchant, had Carl trained as a pharmacist. While recovering from an illness Carl took up painting. Spitzweg was self-taught artist, and started by copying old masters. He completely dedicated himself to painting after receiving an inheritance in 1833.

Spitzweg reminds Andersen's fairy tales, but always happy-ending.
In many of his works he recreated the atmosphere of old European cities without topographical or historical accuracy. He depicted touching and funny stories and loved to appear frivolous. He left more than 1500 paintings and drawings.

Sunday

Surprisingly, There isn't much imformation on George Barbier as a person.
Born in Nantes, France, in 1882, into a prosperous bourgeois family;
in 1907 George attends the Ecole des Beaux-Arts;
in 1911 he exhibites his works at the Salon des Humoristes for the first time.
A versatile artist, he produces all kinds of different work: costume designs for the cinema and theatre, book illustrations, fans, glass,jewelry, wallpaper, fabrics and fashion illustrations - the most refined and famous segment of his creativity.
He is certainly a leading figure of the Art Déco style. His exquisite, elegant illustrations captured the mood and atmosphere of the jazz era.
Like Iris March, the fictional heroine of "The Green Hat", the women of the 1920s modeled themselves on "the women in Georges Barbier's almanacs, "Falbalas et Fanfreluches", who know how to stand carelessly.." (Paris Fashion - A Cultural History By Valerie Steele)

Barbier illustrates "editions de luxe", limited editions of poetry and novels by C. Baudelaire, P.Verlaine and others. His first is an album of drawings of Nijinsky, a Russian dancer, 1913; in 1914 - a similar album of Karsavina.
In 1923 he also designs costumes for a number of the Folies Bergère shows.
For 20 years Barbier had been involved with the "The Knights of the Bracelet" or , a group of the young stylish men under thirty, notable for their fashionable and flamboyant mannerisms and style of dress.
According to Vogue's editor Edna Woolman Chase " A certain dandyism of dress and manner... makes them a "school". Their hat brims are a wee bit broader than the modish ones of the day and the hats are worn with a slight tilt, a very slight tilt but enought to give the impression of fastidiousness. Their coats are pinched in just a little at the waist, their ties are spotless and their boots immaculate. A bacelet slipping down over a wrist at an unexpected moment betrays a love of luxury". (Paris Fashion - A Cultural History By Valerie Steele)

Saturday

Ramon Vilanova is acclaimed as one of the greatest landscape painters.
His art work is represented in outstanding museums and remarkable collections throughout Europe. He works earned him a number of the 1st place prizes in main competitions. With great success he has been exhibiting in Europe since the early 1970s.
Ramon is a self-taught artist, who was born near Barcelona, Spain, where he continues to live and work.

Friday

According to the legend, Veronica was a pious woman from Jerusalem who encountered Christ on His way to Calvary. Deeply moved by His suffering, looking into His face pouring with sweat and blood, she wiped it with her veil - and found His portrait imprinted on the cloth when she got it back. The white, almost transparent veil bears dark red features of a bearded man with long hair and open eyes. The face on the veil is that of a young man who has suffered greatly. He looks tired. The marks of blows that have struck him are clear: bruises and other scars on the forehead, clotted blood on his nose, one pupil slightly dilated. Yet, in spite of the evident signs of suffering and pain, the look is that of a serene man enduring his suffering with patience.
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A distinctive painter, she was largely self-taught.
Nominating MacIver to the American Academy and Institute of Arts in 1956, Marianne Moore characterized her as “a classicist of the imagination, an interpreter of what cannot be painted.”
Sharon L. Butler (Tracking Loren MacIver): "..depicts the objects and incidents of her daily life in a fragile, ethereal style reminiscent of Marc Chagall and Paul Klee".

Wednesday

Thereat woman should have been a bit of everything: a musician and singer, dancer and artist in order to shine in society. Without that knowledge none, even the most beautiful girl, couldn't be any success. Teaching music was a significant component of the education of the women from noble families.

Kay Nielsen (1886-1957) was a Danish illustrator, popular in the early 20th century, the "golden age of illustration". In 1939 he worked for Hollywood companies, including The Walt Disney Company. His work was used in the "Ave Maria" and "Night on Bald Mountain" sequences of "Fantasia".

The historic use and recognition of lavender is almost as old the history of man. As a herb, lavender has been in documented use for over 2,500 years. Mention of lavenders can also be found in the Bible, not by the name lavender but rather by the name used at that time - spikenard.
It is likely that the use of the lavender plant and its domestic cultivation was first initiated by the Arabs (outside their natural habitat), and thereby spread across Europe.
The ancient Greeks knew of lavender and its powerful fragrance. They called it nardus because at that time the best lavender came from a Syrian city called Narda. The Greeks imported the flower heads in quantity to scent rooms and to be used in medicine. The Romans were a little apprehensive when it came to lavender as they were convinced that a poisonous snake, the asp, liked to live among the lavender bushes. This didn’t stop them from buying the dried flowers once someone else had risked his life picking lavender in the countryside. However, it made dried lavender one of the more expensive medicinal items at the market. From its first appearance in the written record, lavender was used for scent. The ancient Libyans made a perfume of it, and the Romans used it for bathing. The Egyptians utilised the lavender herb in the process of mummification and perfuming, as did the Phoenicians as well as the Arabs.

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Its scientific name, Lavandula, comes from the Latin "lavare", "to wash." According to the 1889 Century Unabridged Dictionary, in Middle English (12th to 15th centuries), washer women were called lavanders or lavenders; to lavender meant to launder, and lavatories were stone-floored rooms for washing clothes.
Lavender made its way to northern Europe well before the Middle Ages and was used for both medicine and scent. was used to keep fabrics fresh-smelling. Lavender is a unique fragrance widely used in the perfume industry.

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It is said that where there is lavender, there is great fairy activity. These fairies bring healing, protection, and aid in overcoming emotional blocks. In England, it was common practice for a bride to braid lavender into her hair to retain female power and luck. In Ireland, brides wore lavender garters to protect them from witchcraft. Lavender is mentioned in the Bible as a charm against the devil and was a flower and essence dedicated to the Goddess of Witches and Sorcerers, Hecate.

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Of the 25 – 30 species of lavender, the English lavender is considered most prized of all, due to the high quality oil which is derived from it.

An interesting and unique lavender fact – this plant does not produce seeds. Propagation is via cuttings or root divisions.

It was in the 1600s that the history of lavender took a further turn and the lavender herb first made an appearance on the continent of America.

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During the Great Plague in London in the 17th century, it was suggested that a bunch of lavender fastened to each wrist would protect the wearer against the deadly disease and glove makers would scent leather with lavender oil, as this was known to ward off the plague. This claim may well be true as the plague is transmitted by flies, and lavender is very effective as a repellent.

Lavender's popularity with the English royalty gave it a berth in the ranks of a cosmetic herb, and it was with Queen Victoria that lavender was recognized as a tonic for nerves.

Wednesday

Art detective work has uncovered the hidden secret of the painting after it was "doctored" in the early 1950s. "The Crystal Ball" by John William Waterhouse RA (1849-1917) shows a young model in a red dress gazing into the ball, apparently weaving a spell with the aid of a book and a skull.

It was shown alongside a more spiritual picture* by the artist at the Royal Academy in 1902. The study later entered the Pyman collection and eventually hung in the dining room at Glenborrodale Castle, Highland.
The painting was sold with the castle when the property changed hands in 1952-3. But the new owner did not like the skull and had it covered by curtains. The picture was later sold and came into the auction room in its amended state (Christie's, 1994).
But when Martin Beisly, head of the Victorian picture department, and his team began to research its background they came across photographs of the original in The Art Journal, 1909. An X-ray of the picture showed the skull still there.
A pigment analysis demonstrated that the original surface was still protected with a layer of varnish which meant the addition could be removed safely. The picture would clean up "quite beautifully", Mr Beisly said. (www.jwwaterhouse.com)

Rob Scotton is the author and illustrator of the bestselling Russell the Sheep and Russell and the Lost Treasure. His work can also be found on greeting cards, ceramics, textiles, prints, stationery, and glassware.

Sunday

The artist lived and worked in Amsterdam. Painted in romantic style. Oil on panel.

His father Jan Jacob Spohler was born in Holland (1811-1866) and studied at the Amsterdam Art Academy. He was a prolific landscape artist, a member of the Academy.
His two sons, Jacob Jan Spohler (1837 - 1923) and Johannes Franciscus Spohler (1853 - 1894) both were his pupils and became successful artists on their own.